Rackbid
Member
I was camping with the family last week at Garner State Park (Texas - between San Antonio and Del Rio) and took the CT125 along to putter around the campground and maybe find a dirt road or two to play with. On Tuesday, I saw the same sport bike a couple times west of Leakey and then in Utopia. Saw him again having a smoke at a gas station outside the park and he came over to look at the 125 and tell me how cool it was (he was on a CBR1000), when he realized it was a "new" one. He then asked me if I had done the "Twisted Sisters" on it yet, to which my reply was, "What is that?" He showed me the route on his phone and then I looked it up when I got back to my computer. Turns out this "route" is a pretty big deal among motorcycle enthusiasts - which you see a lot of in this part of Texas. I decided to attempt it the next day Wednesday, May 4th.
Left the park about 11:30 am waiting for the rain in the forecast to stop. Trip odometer set to 0 and 280 total miles on the bike. It started misting on me immediately and the rain intensified within a mile on 2748 north to Leakey. Almost turned around about 3 times - glad I didn't. Got to the Stripes in Leakey to get under the canopy and topped off the tank when an RVer came over to look at and talk about the bike (I'm noticing a trend here). I waited there for about 20 minutes waiting for the rain to at least slow down and then I proceeded north. You pick up Hwy 336 north of Leakey and this is where the adventure begins. 27 miles of quiet highway with no traffic, incredible views, and tight turns, low or no guardrails and STEEP drops. The rain/mist finally stopped when I hit TX-41 (not one of the "Twisted Sisters") and realized it was a fast highway with speed limit 75mph. I had my doubts but headed west on it so I could complete the loop. Really wasn't that bad, a wide open highway with NO traffic. Only had one car pass me in the 14 miles to the turn onto Hwy 335 south, which goes 34 miles south along the Nueces River to Camp Wood (never had a car pass me or in front of me on this road either). Then you take Hwy 337 east back to Leakey (only two cars passed me - when I saw them I pulled off). I stopped at the biker bar in Leakey to celebrate with a beverage and snack. Again, all the Harley riders wanted to talk to me about the CT. Also decided to commemorate the "voyage" with one of the T-shirts at the bar (see pics to guess which one).
Made my way back south the final 10 miles to the park and when I stopped, the trip had taken me 124.9 miles. All pavement, bone-stock bike, a LOT of high speed runs that were a little much for this bike, but doable with the limited traffic around there. Also, the locals in this part of the world are not in that big of a hurry, and all enthusiastically waved when encountering me! I recommend doing it if in the area. I think the official route starts at Hwy 337 in Medina, but the next day I rode about halfway on that section of 337 east to where the signs warn that "Since 2006, 12 motorcyclists have been killed in the next 12 miles." On the Hwy 336 the same sign states 8 killed in the same time. I didn't notice one of those signs on 335.
Sorry for the wordy report. I kind of wanted to write it down so I would remember it some day. Unless someone corrects me, I am going to claim the first to do this route on a new CT125!
Left the park about 11:30 am waiting for the rain in the forecast to stop. Trip odometer set to 0 and 280 total miles on the bike. It started misting on me immediately and the rain intensified within a mile on 2748 north to Leakey. Almost turned around about 3 times - glad I didn't. Got to the Stripes in Leakey to get under the canopy and topped off the tank when an RVer came over to look at and talk about the bike (I'm noticing a trend here). I waited there for about 20 minutes waiting for the rain to at least slow down and then I proceeded north. You pick up Hwy 336 north of Leakey and this is where the adventure begins. 27 miles of quiet highway with no traffic, incredible views, and tight turns, low or no guardrails and STEEP drops. The rain/mist finally stopped when I hit TX-41 (not one of the "Twisted Sisters") and realized it was a fast highway with speed limit 75mph. I had my doubts but headed west on it so I could complete the loop. Really wasn't that bad, a wide open highway with NO traffic. Only had one car pass me in the 14 miles to the turn onto Hwy 335 south, which goes 34 miles south along the Nueces River to Camp Wood (never had a car pass me or in front of me on this road either). Then you take Hwy 337 east back to Leakey (only two cars passed me - when I saw them I pulled off). I stopped at the biker bar in Leakey to celebrate with a beverage and snack. Again, all the Harley riders wanted to talk to me about the CT. Also decided to commemorate the "voyage" with one of the T-shirts at the bar (see pics to guess which one).
Made my way back south the final 10 miles to the park and when I stopped, the trip had taken me 124.9 miles. All pavement, bone-stock bike, a LOT of high speed runs that were a little much for this bike, but doable with the limited traffic around there. Also, the locals in this part of the world are not in that big of a hurry, and all enthusiastically waved when encountering me! I recommend doing it if in the area. I think the official route starts at Hwy 337 in Medina, but the next day I rode about halfway on that section of 337 east to where the signs warn that "Since 2006, 12 motorcyclists have been killed in the next 12 miles." On the Hwy 336 the same sign states 8 killed in the same time. I didn't notice one of those signs on 335.
Sorry for the wordy report. I kind of wanted to write it down so I would remember it some day. Unless someone corrects me, I am going to claim the first to do this route on a new CT125!